Communicating the tribal way – Actions speak louder than words

The director of Tribal Research Center located in Ooty, C. Maheswaran has revealed some very intersesting facts about the tribal communities while addressing the audience at the Vanavarayar Foundation. The event, ‘Lifestyles of Kongunadu Tribes’ was organized by the foundation as a part of the monthly lecture series.

Mahaswaran talked about one of the tribes, where the people from the boys side approach the potential bride’s family by asking, “We have some seeds, will you give us some land to sow it in?’ and if all goes well, a stick representing the boy will be left behind on the girl’s house, denoting that a bond has been created.

In another instance, the Malayaalis go swirling round a stick over their heads to declare that they are seeking for a bride. The probable sequence that will follow be either that the woman’s family accepts the stick or else they will throw it out, without facing any protest from the boy’s side.

He also mentioned a extremely thoughtful custom practiced by the Todas, is which the husband of a pregnant woman will gift her a Toda shaped house constructed from grass blades and shrubs. This is the way of proclaiming to the world, that the husband is the child’s father and the infant will be heartily welcomed in his clan.

Apart from the ceremonies relating to selection of mates and marriage, there are also tribal traditions of respecting each other’s territory and dedicating one’s life to the community.

Mahaswaran explained about the Aalu Kurumbas, where once every year, seven members of the tribe travel to live in the forest secretly, for a whole week. This is done in hope that the Nature will grant protection to their villages. On their return, the seven of them cooks a meal of pongal in seven pots and feeds the villagers.

While, in a different case the Pazhiyar tasks themselves to dig into the hard ground searching for edible tubers. After a hard work of half a day, the person will tore off the half of the tuber for himself and keep the rest for the community. It is also known that if the similar person finds a honeycomb in the forest while going on the search for tubers, he will mark the tree. And if the same tree is noted by anyone else from the tribe, they will refuse to touch the honeycomb, showing respect for other’s territory.

Finally, C. Mahaswaran concluded that, “This is how tribals communicate. Without many words being spoken”.

To give a little more information, it is established that Kongunadu which is home to six vulnerable tribals like Todas and Kotas, also is the place of origin for the 14 out of 36 tribal communities in the whole of Tamil Nadu.

Pradeep John is the face behind popular Tamil Nadu Weatherman Facebook page. newsexpress

By Ruchika Verma

Tamil Nadu weatherman is a common man who predicts the weather

His weather forecasts are based on his knowledge of rain and are accurate

His page, Tami Nadu weatherman is very famous

We don’t pay much attention to the weather news. It is one of the most ignored sections of newspapers and Television news. Weather forecast seems mundane to most of us. However, it is not mundane anymore. There is a weatherman in Tamil Nadu who takes weather seriously and the world takes him seriously as well.

We often ignore weather forecasts, but Tamil Nadu’s weatherman takes it seriously. www.weather-forecast.com

This Tamil Nadu weatherman has an almost cult-like following in the southern state. Pradeep John is a self-proclaimed lover of rain and although he does not have any degree in meteorology, he provides weather information which is followed more closely than Met Department’s.

Pradeep’s Interest In Weather

Tamil Nadu’s weatherman’s interest in weather began when he was 12 years old and witnessed his first cyclone in Chennai.

The floods of 2015 in Chennai was a turning point for Pradeep. During this flood, Chennai witnessed its worst rainfall in over 100 years and people were in a state of panic. When they wanted some guidance and information about the heavy rainfall, the activity on Pradeep’s Facebook page increased rapidly. His posts on the predictions of rainfall went viral and he became an overnight sensation.

Pradeep witnessed his first cyclone in Chennai when he was only 12 years old.

Here is the list of Pradeep, the Tamil Nadu weatherman’s reports which were spot on:

On 6th August 2017, Pradeep put out a message regarding an intense 15 minutes rain. And just like his post mentioned, many parts in Chennai received rainfall for only about ten to twenty minutes that day.

Another post made by the Tamil Nadu weatherman was about the Runners of Jawadhu Ultra Run, on 6th August 2017. And it turned out to be true too.

Tamil Nadu Weather Facebook is one of the most popular weather forecast pages in India. WESH Home

On 4th June 2017, during India vs. Pakistan cricket match, many weatherman followers asked him for his weather forecast, and like always Tamil Nadu weatherman predicted a sunny day with really light rainfall which again came out to be true.

The Tamil Nadu weatherman is famous for his correct predictions which are concise and easily understandable by the common people. He has a huge social media following which is not seeing any signs of reducing. Tamil Nadu weatherman facebook page is the most famous page about weather forecasts in India today.